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Who Cares?

Project Overview

According to Eurostat, the number of people over the age of 80 will have doubled by 2080. Sensational newspapers often refer to this phenomenon as ‘The Grey Flood.’ The project “Who Cares? Rethinking Age(ing) and Care Together” analyses prevailing discourses of age(ing) and care that are often portrayed in pejorative metaphorical expressions such as ‘Silver Tsunami’ and ‘Crisis in Care.’ The Discourse of crisis views age(ing) as nuclear disaster and disease and evokes a social division in ‘young’ and ‘old’ people where ‘young’ is seen as the norm and the attribution ‘old’ equals sickness and care-dependency. Consequently, old people are often seen as economic and social burden. However, not only the financial feasibility of the health system but also the concepts of frailty, loss of autonomy and care dependency are commonly associated with being ‘old.’ Gullette (2017) highlights that ageism, i.e. the discrimination based on age, is a serious problem. In addition, the nursing home is mainly associated with feelings of fear and apprehension. The “deficit model” of age(ing) and care demands new images of age(ing) and alternative and successful models of institutional care. The project aims at developing new ideas and innovative concepts and puts focus on the analysis of socially and culturally constructed images of age(ing) and care.

Main questions:

  1. Which discourses and narratives determine socially accepted and shared images and ideas of age(ing) and care?
  2. What are useful models and concepts that have already been successfully implemented in the context of long-term care (i.e. ʺpromising practicesʺ)? What new concepts, for example, in the area of housing and financing models, are required by experts in the area of care? In what ways can they be implemented and within which time frame?
  3. How can holistic and useful approaches to age(ing) and care replace negative images in order to improve (institutionalized) care and avoid the polarization of ‘young’ and ‘old?’

Objectives:

The project’s main objective is rethinking age(ing) and care in Styria. The project fosters interdisciplinary networks of experts within different specialist fields such as the Humanities, Social Sciences, Cultural Studies, Arts, Medical Science and Architecture, which view age(ing) and care from diverse points of view. In addition to the support of young scientists in the area of Cultural Gerontology and Health Humanities, the development of a network of academic research institutes in Styria and institutions such as nursing homes and NGOs lie at the heart of the project.

Measures:

  1. Ongoing development of interdisciplinary Aging Studies in Styria through support of young scientists and networking
  2. Development of interdisciplinary networks focusing on age(ing) and care in Styria
  3. Knowledge transfer and development of new projects

“Spaces of Knowledge”

“Spaces of knowledge“ provide the structural basis for the project. They are open and value-free ideational spaces in which project partners and team members can express and share their expertise, experiences, thoughts and questions. Spaces of knowledge serve for joint reflection on specific topics and foster the exchange of ideas. Critical reflection on the discourses, narratives and images of age(ing) and care provide the basis for new projects. The following four spaces of knowledge reflect the interests of our project partners:

The project is funded by "Land Steiermark" and is supported by the following organisations:

  • Human.technology.styria
  • Core Research Areas "Kultur- und Deutungsgeschichte Europas" and "Heterogeneity and Cohesion"
  • WKO Personenberatung & Personenbetreuung

Contact

Assoz.-Prof. Dr. Ulla Kriebernegg
Center for Interdisciplinary Research on Aging and Care
Schubertstraße 23/I
8010 Graz
Austria


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